The Bonita Unified School District is in the midst of an investigation into allegations made against the San Dimas High School football coaching staff that it put players on a weight-gain plan and provided them with nutritional supplements in the form of shakes to help them reach weight goals.

The allegations were made by Peter Lyons, the guardian of former Saints standout running back Jake Payton, who transferred to Upland at the end of spring only to have San Dimas challenge the move. Payton was declared ineligible for the upcoming season by the CIF Southern Section office.

This newspaper has obtained copies of email correspondence between Lyons and several members of the Bonita Unified School District, including superintendent Dr. Gary Rapkin and San Dimas principal Michael Kelly.

In one of the emails, Lyons alleges that San Dimas varsity football coach Bill Zernickow and members of his coaching staff gave players shakes to help them gain weight. The contents of the shakes were unclear, but Lyons said he provided Kelly with a list of 23 current and former players who acknowledged receiving or seeing others receive shakes by Zernickow or assistant coaches.

It is a violation of the coaches code of ethics under CIF State rule 22B12 to give athletes anything other than non-muscle building nutritional supplements.

In July, Alhambra High School dismissed its entire coaching staff after the parents of a player came forward and told school officials the coaching staff provided their son with a supplement in the form of a shake that contained the muscle-building organic acid creatine.

Zernickow did not return calls seeking comment and remains on the job along with the rest of his staff, according to Bonita Unified assistant superintendent Curtis Frick.

“We’re looking into what the complaint is,” Frick said, but declined to give details. “We’re conducting an investigation. At the district level, there’s one complaint that has come forth. As part of the complaint, there were names named within all of that and as we do the investigation we’re following up with folks as they come up.

“We’re making sure that we’re following all the leads on it. We’re trying to be as swift as we can in this investigation.”

In one email exchange between Rapkin and Lyons, Rapkin confirms that both Kelly and Frick are heading the investigation and have interviewed 18 parents and students.

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Lyons provided the Tribune with text message exchanges between Payton and several former players that recalled receiving the shakes. One of the former players referred to the shakes as “magic shakes” while another speculated the ingredients were fish and eggs.

Particularly concerning was an exchange between Payton and former teammate Dillon Corona, who is now on Zernickow’s coaching staff. In the text message, Payton asks Corona if he recalls the shakes and what was in them. Corona replied “Muscle milk I think that’s it”.

Other allegations made by Lyons were that recruiting letters from colleges sent to the school on players’ behalf were either not delivered in a timely manner or thrown away. Another allegation is that a former San Dimas player who transferred to Bonita was told by Zernickow that the only way the coach would sign his release form was if the player’s mother came to the school and begged.

The timing of Lyons’ allegations is somewhat dubious considering the reason Payton was denied eligibility at Upland is because San Dimas contested the transfer on grounds that it was athletically motivated and there was undue influence.

In one of his emails to Rapkin, Lyons wrote that “San Dimas High School started this entire thing by contesting the transfer acting on hurt feelings and emotions as stated in a meeting with Mr. Kelly”.

“It kinda all looks like it’s in regard to Jake Payton’s transfer, but it’s not,” Lyons said. “When we were going through all of this, parents came forward and said, ‘This happened to my son.’ Some of them we gave credibility to, others we haven’t.

“My problem is that in light of the Alhambra situation and what you can and cannot do with students, I couldn’t hold back that information and say, ‘Well, I’m going to use this as a trump card.’ This is illegal. We can’t just stand by and let them brush this under the rug, I have to let them know.”

Lyons’ wife, Shara, is a counselor at Lone Hill Middle School in San Dimas. Both Shara and Peter did not become Payton’s legal guardians until March 2013, but have known Payton since he was in the 6th grade.

Payton was arrested for marijuana possession while in 8th grade and credits the Lyons family with helping him turn his life around. The family lived in Claremont last year until their house was foreclosed on and they moved to Upland.

Payton was one of the area’s top players for the past two seasons and was named Valle Vista League MVP and first-team All-Area at running back after rushing for 1,658 yards and 22 touchdowns.